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Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Latest Article|September 3, 2020|Free
::Making Grown Men Cry Since 1992
4 min read
Dateline: Australia— A Melbourne soccer player was ejected from a game after he refused a referee's order to remove a piercing from his penis. According to Australia's Sports News First website, Aaron Eccleston was playing for the Old Hill Wanderers against the Swinburne Reserves when he received two yellow cards and a final red card removing him from play. A club spokesperson said, "During the first half, our player was struck in the groin by the ball and left the field to receive attention. At this point, the referee became aware that he had a body piercing. He subsequently received two yellow cards, firstly for reentering the field of play without the referee's permission, and secondly for privacy reasons being unable to prove he had removed the piercing." The spokesperson noted that, "At no point during the incident did the player of Old Hill Wanderers expose himself to the referee or other players on the field." Despite playing with only 10 men, Old Hill went on to beat Swinburne 3-0. A subsequent headline on the club's website announced, "Old Hill Reserves Triumph Despite Cock-Up." Dateline: Tennessee— A spokesperson for the Parkridge Medical Center told The Chattanooga Free Times that the body of recently deceased 76-year-old patient Kenneth Ray Manis will be exhumed from National Cemetery after his family learned the dentures buried with him actually belonged to his roommate. Manis died on June 12 at the medical center. After Manis' funeral on June 15, a Chattanooga man with whom he shared an intensive care room noticed that his custom dentures were missing. Parkridge staff admitted they accidentally took the dentures when Manis' body was removed from the hospital room. A "petition for disinterment and reburial" filed by the hospital said the missing item in question was "buried with Mr. Manis" because no one knew it belonged to his roommate at Parkridge. The hospital has apologized to all parties involved and will pay reburial costs and attorney's fees. Officials noted that the dentures were not placed in the mouth of the deceased, but were put in a case that was deposited with other personal effects inside the casket. Dateline: Indiana— A 21-year-old Amish man is accused of sexting a 12-year-old girl. Connersville Police were alerted to the crime after the underage victim's mother found text messages from a strange man on her daughter's phone. The mother turned the phone over to police after the man identified himself in texts and tried to set up a rendezvous for sex. Police found more than 600 video messages, naked pictures and lewd text messages on the young girl's phone. Connersville Police and Fayette County Sheriff's Deputies continued to text the man and set up a sting involving an undercover officer. At around 10 p.m. on June 15, the suspect pulled up to the pre-arranged meeting place in a horse-drawn carriage. The suspect was identified as Willard Yoder. Officers say he confessed in a videotaped interview. He now faces four counts of child solicitation. Dateline: Wisconsin— A man was arrested on his fifth drunk driving charge after a late-night munchie run had him passing out at the drive-though window at Taco Bell. Bryan J. Jens, 27, was charged in Outagamie County Court with felony drunk driving, marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving after revocation. According to the Post Crescent newspaper, police were called to the Taco Bell in Appleton, 100 miles north of Milwaukee, just before 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15. An officer reportedly knocked on Jens' window but was unable to wake him up. Eventually, the driver woke up, turned up the volume on his car stereo and started bobbing his head to the music. The police report notes that Jens "did not even acknowledge that [officers] were in his presence." Eventually, Jens was removed from the vehicle, at which point he began calling a female officer "baby" and "honey." When police asked Jens to submit to field sobriety tests, he replied, "C'mon, we're not all stupid here. Do you even need to do these on me? Serious. C'mon." Results for Jens' blood alcohol test were unavailable, but Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Bolz told the Post Crescent that circumstances suggest "a significantly high blood alcohol concentration."


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I would like to have two different sized featured images on my homepage. I currently have all featured images set to 280x200. I would like to have SOME posts on the home page display a larger 620x200 image and others the 280x200. I'm not sure how to accomplish this. I realize I can specify a custom image size in my functions file like add_image_size( 'large-image', 620, 200, true );
. However, I'm not sure how to get my homepage to know which image to display?
I have no idea if this is an optimal approach or not but I was thinking of making a custom field called 'large-featured' and having the homepage check to see if large-featured
custom field value is set to true. Upon true use large-image
custom size and upon no custom field value set use wordpress default featured size.
I'm not good at php coding so a little help here would be awesome. I'm pretty good and figuring things out with a little direction. Thanks for your assistance. Much appreciated.
My site in question is: http://www.fighterstyle.com

subset: commoncrawl


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If you've gone to the trouble of building your own CNC mill we know you're always on the lookout for things to use it for. [Boris Landoni] wrote in with just the thing for the holiday season; a set of lighted acrylic Christmas ornaments.
One of the interesting properties of acrylic is how it reacts when edge-lit. The material pipes the light, until it bounces off of a disturbance in the surface. The first step is to design the outline of the ornament as all cut edges will glow. Next, [Boris] uses artCAM to design the internal parts to be cut. This application translates the relief cuts necessary to really make your design shine (sorry, we couldn't resist). The best examples of this are the angel and candle seen above.
Each of these acrylic pieces has a slot cut on the bottom to hug an LED. [Boris] used small project boxes with a PCB for that diode, as well as a button battery for power.


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Cursed Treasure 2
The cursed gems of the Dark Overlord are in danger in this tower defense game. The greedy "heroes" of the Kingdom once again want to steal his treasure! In Cursed Treasure 2 you must keep the gems safe from the oncoming waves of champions. Build towers so your minions can help you defend the jewels. Use the high ground and cast spells to gain an advantage over the treasure seekers. Upgrade towers to help you defeat the bosses. Help the Dark Overlord and his armies of orcs, undead, and demons keep his gems in the safety of his own cave!
Use your mouse


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This year Horizon Funeral Home celebrates our 12th year and we would like to thank all of the families that have entrusted our family to serve them in their time of need. We are honored by your choice and we pledge to continue in our devotion to meeting the needs of those we serve and our community.
Integrity, Service and Compassion are the values Horizon Funeral Home was founded on. Our vision is to provide exceptional and meaningful funeral service experiences for the families we serve through individual attention, teamwork, dedication, and professionalism.
Integrity in our pricing - Our commitment to keeping the funeral cost affordable is one of our top priorities. We guarantee you will get the highest quality funeral at an affordable price.
Integrity in our staff - Our staff is the face of our business and extended members of our family and they are held to a high standard of integrity, both personally and professionally. All of our staff members receive extensive training and are involved in church and community activities.
Service to the families - You are the heart of our business and we take pride in the fact that you have considered our services. Starting with your initial contact with Horizon Funeral Home it will be evident of the high level of service you will receive. We do not use an answering service so you are always able to directly reach a member of our staff 24/7 during your time of need.
Service to our community - We are committed to giving back and supporting our community through donations and sponsorships. Visit the Community Links area to view the organizations we support.
Compassion for your loss and sorrow - We understand your grief and the difficult decisions you are faced with. Planning your loved one's funeral takes time and involves a lot of decisions and you will never be rushed or pressured. We will work with you every step of the way to create a memorable event within your budget. We will even come to you in the comfort of your home.
Johnny and Traci Johnson
Our mission is to provide exceptional and meaningful service to families at their time of need. We will do this by being professional, ethical, and providing the highest quality funeral service available.


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P25 Operation | Compact Form Factor | Key Features | Durable Design
Reliability Meets P25 Portability
If you are racing to respond to an electrical outage or monitor a highway construction build, you need a radio that keeps you connected, instantly and continuously no matter the situation, background noise, weather or duration. You expect a reliable radio where every word is heard and every message understood when it counts most.
Public safety, utilities and government service users require a P25 radio that can stand up to the toughest tasks while keeping them connected to surrounding agencies and first responders. The APX™ 1000 is engineered to give you the capabilities you need at the budget you can afford. It combines uncompromising durability, simplified controls and excellent audio quality in a compact P25 TDMA capable portable radio.
Everything You Want In A Radio, For Less
With the APX 1000, you pay for only the functionality you need at the level you can afford without giving up the exceptional quality and reliability you expect from APX. The APX 1000 provides you with a radio that meets and fits your budget needs.
Compact design
Smallest P25 Phase 2 TDMA-capable radio available.
Full-size keypad
Simple to navigate and use.
Color display
High-contrast color display is easy to read in all kinds of light.
Multi-function knob
The multi-function knob is designed for ease of use by combining volume, channel and ON/OFF settings in one.
Dual microphones
Dual microphone noise suppression technology locates the talker and cancels out any background noise.
AMBE vocoder
Equipped with the latest AMBE +2 digital voice vocoder.
Three radio models
Three radio models allow the user to select the device that best suits the end users' environment.
Intelligent lighting
Uses color to notify you of the radio mode, potential emergencies or specific events. Color alerts provide information at a glance.
Radio profiles
Adjust audio levels, lighting and tones through user selected or automated options. Whether on surveillance or working in bright sunlight, you can customize settings as needed.
Text messaging
Offers a freeform or canned messaging solution so you can efficiently and discreetly send and receive messages.
Voice announcement
Audible, pre-recorded voice file provides a description of the selected channel or zone.
Over-the-air programming
Motorola's POP25 solution allows subscriber radios to be programmed over the air via the ASTRO 25 systems while remaining in the field.
P25 Phase 2 - TDMA
Twice the voice capacity, allowing additional users on the system without the need for additional frequencies or infrastructure.
Model 1.5
Full Bitmap Color LCD Display, 3 Lines of Text X 14 Characters, 1 Line of Icons, 1 Menu Line X 3 Menus, White Backlight.
Backlight Keypad, 3 Soft Keys
H84UCD9PW5AN 700/800 MHz (763-870 MHz), 1-2.5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84KDD9PW5AN VHF (136-174 MHz), 1-5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84QDD9PW5AN UHF Range 1 (380-470 MHz), 1-5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84SDD9PW5AN UHF Range 2 (450-520 MHz), 1-5 Watts, 512 Channels
Model 2
Full Bitmap Color LCD Display, 3 Lines of Text X 14 Characters, 1 Line of Icons, 1 Menu Line X 3 Menus, White Backlight.
Backlight Keypad, 3 Soft Keys, 4 Direction Navigation Key, Home and Data Buttons.
H84UCF9PW6AN 700/800 MHz (763-870 MHz), 1-2.5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84KDF9PW6AN VHF (136-174 MHz), 1-5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84QDF9PW6AN UHF Range 1 (380-470 MHz), 1-5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84SDF9PW6AN UHF Range 2 (450-520 MHz), 1-5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84WCF9PW6AN 900 MHz (896-940 MHz), 1-2.5 Watts, 512 Channels
Model 3
Full Bitmap Color LCD Display, 3 Lines of Text X 14 Characters, 1 Line of Icons, 1 Menu Line X 3 Menus, White Backlight.
Backlight Keypad, 3 Soft Keys, 4 Direction Navigation Key, 4x3 Keypad, Home and Data Buttons.
H84UCH9PW7AN 700/800 MHz (764-870 MHz), 1-2.5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84KDH9PW7AN VHF (136-174 MHz), 1-5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84QDH9PW7AN UHF Range 1 (380-470 MHz), 1-5 Watts, 512 Channels
H84SDH9PW7AN UHF Range 2 (450-520 MHz), 1-5 Watts, 512 Channels
Safety Doesn't Stop With The Radio
Extend the power and reliability of your radio with the only complete line of accessories designed, tested and certified for optimal performance with APX portables. Whether it's our industry-leading Remote Speaker Microphone with noise-canceling technology for loud, clear communications or a Mission Critical Wireless Bluetooth earpiece for secure, discreet conversations, our accessories are so comprehensive and flexible, you can trust them to work overtime with your APX radio.
IMPRES™ Smart Audio Accessories
Be clearly heard the first time and eliminate repeating yourself. Whether you need to talk loudly or quietly, into or away from the accessory, IMPRES Audio lowers the loud talker level and raises the soft talker level automatically so listeners do not have to adjust the volume depending on who is talking.
IMPRES Smart Energy System
Get the most out of every battery by eliminating the surprise of "low battery alerts." IMPRES chargers tell you exactly how much capacity is in an IMPRES battery before you attach it to your radio and exactly when an IMPRES battery has reached the end of service life.
Mission Critical Wireless Bluetooth® Accessories
The APX Mission Critical Wireless portfolio is skillfully engineered to give first responders enhanced security, quick pairing and fast PTT. Our earpieces provide exceptional audio clarity and volume so messages come through loud and clear in noisy settings. The discreet earbud, which looks like a consumer device, offers private listening in noisier environments. Durable yet lightweight, these wireless accessories fit snugly and comfortably for long shifts.
View the Motorola Original Accessories for the Motorola APX 1000
Astro® 25 Two-Way Radios at a Glance Brochure
APX Accessory Catalog
IMPRES Energy Brochure
APX Personnel Accountability Application Solution Brief
APX 1000 Series Spec Sheet
APX Series Audio Fact Sheet
APX Series Radio Management Fact Sheet
Mission Critical Communications: Designed to a Tougher Standard White Paper


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Minute and second of arc
A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc is a unit of angular measurement equal to 1/60 of one degree. Since one degree is 1/360 of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is 1/600 21 of a turn (or, in radians, π/800 10). A second of arc, arcsecond (arcsec), or arc second is 1/60 of an arcminute, 1/ 3600 of a degree, 1/296000 1 of a turn, and π/000 648 (about 1/265 206) of a radian. These units originated in Babylonian astronomy as sexagesimal subdivisions of the degree; they are used in fields that involve very small angles, such as astronomy, optometry, ophthalmology, optics, navigation, land surveying and marksmanship.
To express even smaller angles, standard SI prefixes can be employed; the milliarcsecond (mas) and microarcsecond (μas), for instance, are commonly used in astronomy.
The number of square arcminutes in a complete sphere is 510660 square arcminutes. 148
Symbols and abbreviations
The standard symbol for marking the arcminute is the prime (′) (U+2032), though a single quote (') (U+0027) is commonly used where only ASCII characters are permitted. One arcminute is thus written 1′. It is also abbreviated as arcmin or amin or, less commonly, the prime with a circumflex over it ().
The standard symbol for the arcsecond is the double prime (″) (U+2033), though a double quote (") (U+0022) is commonly used where only ASCII characters are permitted. One arcsecond is thus written 1″. It is also abbreviated as arcsec or asec.
Unit | Value | Symbol | Abbreviations | In radians (approx.) |
Degree | 1/360 turn | ° (degree) | deg | 2925 mrad 17.453 |
Arcminute | 1/60 degree | ′ (prime) | arcmin, amin, am, , MOA | 2087 µrad 290.888 |
Arcsecond | 1/60 arcminute = 1/3600 degree | ″ (double prime) | arcsec, asec, as | 1368 µrad 4.848 |
Milliarcsecond | 0.001 arcsecond = 1/3600000 degree | mas | 1368 nrad 4.848 | |
Microarcsecond | 0.001 mas (001 arcsecond) 0.000 | μas | 1368 prad 4.848 |
In celestial navigation, seconds of arc are rarely used in calculations, the preference usually being for degrees, minutes and decimals of a minute, for example, written as 42° 25.32′ or 42° 25.322′.[1][2] This notation has been carried over into marine GPS receivers, which normally display latitude and longitude in the latter format by default.[3]
Common examples
An arcsecond is approximately the angle subtended by a U.S. dime coin (18 mm) at a distance of 4 kilometres (about 2.5 mi).[4]
An arcsecond is also the angle subtended by
- an object of diameter km at a distance of one 725.27astronomical unit,
- an object of diameter 866916 km at one 45light-year,
- an object of diameter one astronomical unit (597871 km) at a distance of one 149parsec.
A milliarcsecond is about the size of a dime atop the Eiffel Tower as seen from New York City.
A microarcsecond is about the size of a period at the end of a sentence in the Apollo mission manuals left on the Moon as seen from Earth.
Since antiquity the arcminute and arcsecond have been used in astronomy. In the ecliptic coordinate system, latitude (β) and longitude (λ); in the horizon system, altitude (Alt) and azimuth (Az); and in the equatorial coordinate system, declination (δ), are all measured in degrees, arcminutes and arcseconds. The principal exception is Right ascension (RA) in equatorial coordinates, which is measured in time units of hours, minutes, and seconds.
The arcsecond is also often used to describe small astronomical angles such as the angular diameters of planets (e.g. the angular diameter of Venus which varies between 10" and 60"), the proper motion of stars, the separation of components of binary star systems, and parallax, the small change of position of a star in the course of a year or of a solar system body as the Earth rotates. These small angles may also be written in milliarcseconds (mas), or thousandths of an arcsecond. The unit of distance, the parsec, named from the parallax of one arcsecond, was developed for such parallax measurements. It is the distance at which the mean radius of the Earth's orbit would subtend an angle of one arcsecond.
The ESA astrometric space probe Gaia is hoped to measure star positions to 20 microarcseconds (µas) when it begins producing catalog positions sometime after 2016. There are about 1.3 trillion µas in a turn. Currently the best catalog positions of stars actually measured are in terms of milliarcseconds, by the U.S. Naval Observatory.
Apart from the Sun, the star with the largest angular diameter from Earth is R Doradus, a red supergiant with a diameter of 0.05 arcsecond.[lower-alpha 1] Because of the effects of atmospheric seeing, ground-based telescopes will smear the image of a star to an angular diameter of about 0.5 arcsecond; in poor seeing conditions this increases to 1.5 arcseconds or even more. The dwarf planet Pluto has proven difficult to resolve because its angular diameter is about 0.1 arcsecond.[5]
Space telescopes are not affected by the Earth's atmosphere but are diffraction limited. For example, the Hubble space telescope can reach an angular size of stars down to about 0.1″. Techniques exist for improving seeing on the ground. Adaptive optics, for example, can produce images around 0.05 arcsecond on a 10 m class telescope.
Minutes and seconds of arc are also used in cartography and navigation. At sea level one minute of arc along the equator or a meridian (indeed, any great circle) equals approximately (within a third of a percent) one nautical mile (1.852 km or 1.151 mi). A second of arc, one sixtieth of this amount, is about 100 feet or roughly 30 meters. The exact distance varies along meridian arcs because the figure of the Earth is slightly oblate (bulges a third of a percent at the equator).
Positions are traditionally given using degrees, minutes, and seconds of arcs for latitude, the arc north or south of the equator, and for longitude, the arc east or west of the Prime Meridian. Any position on or above the Earth's reference ellipsoid can be precisely given with this method. However, because of the somewhat clumsy base-60 nature of minutes and seconds, positions are frequently expressed in fractional degrees only, expressed in decimal form to an equal amount of precision. Degrees given to three decimal places (1/ 1000 of a degree) have about 1/4 the precision of degrees-minutes-seconds (1/ 3600 of a degree) and specify locations within about 120 meters or 400 feet.
Property cadastral surveying
Related to cartography, property boundary surveying using the metes and bounds system relies on fractions of a degree to describe property lines' angles in reference to cardinal directions. A boundary "mete" is described with a beginning reference point, the cardinal direction North or South followed by an angle less than 90 degrees and a second cardinal direction, and a linear distance. The boundary runs the specified linear distance from the beginning point, the direction of the distance being determined by rotating the first cardinal direction the specified angle toward the second cardinal direction. For example, North 65° 39′ 18″ West 85.69 feet would describe a line running from the starting point 85.69 feet in a direction 65° 39′ 18″ (or 65.655°) away from north toward the west.
The arcminute is commonly found in the firearms industry and literature, particularly concerning the accuracy of rifles, though the industry refers to it as minute of angle (MOA). It is especially popular with shooters familiar with the Imperial measurement system because 1 MOA subtends 1.047 inches at 100 yards, a traditional distance on target ranges. This calculation applies to distances beyond 100 yards, for example, 500 yards = 5.235 inches, and 1000 yards = 10.47 inches. Since lots of modern telescopic sights are adjustable in half (1/2), quarter (1/4), or eighth (1/8) MOA increments, also known as clicks, this makes zeroing and adjustments much easier. For example, if the point of impact is 3 inches high and 1.5 inches left of the point of aim at 100 yards, the scope needs to be adjusted 3 MOA down, and 1.5 MOA right. Such adjustments are trivial when the scope's adjustment dials have a MOA scale printed on them, and even figuring the right number of clicks is relatively easy on scopes that click in fractions of MOA.
One thing to be aware of is that some scopes, including some higher-end models, are calibrated such that an adjustment of 1 MOA corresponds to exactly 1 inch, rather than 1.047". This is commonly known as the Shooter's MOA (SMOA) or Inches Per Hundred Yards (IPHY). While the difference between one true MOA and one SMOA is less than half of an inch even at 1000 yards,[6] this error compounds significantly on longer range shots that may require adjustment upwards of 20-30 MOA to compensate for the bullet drop. If a shot requires an adjustment of 20 MOA or more, the difference between true MOA and SMOA will add up to 1 inch or more. In competitive target shooting, this might mean the difference between a hit and a miss.
The physical group size equivalent to m minutes of arc can be calculated as follows: group size = tan(m/60) × distance. In the example previously given, for 1 minute of arc, and substituting 3,600 inches for 100 yards, 3,600 tan(1/60) ≈ 1.047 inches. In metric units 1 MOA at 100 meters ≈ 2.908 centimeters.
Sometimes, a precision firearm's accuracy will be measured in MOA. This simply means that under ideal conditions i.e. no wind, match-grade ammo, clean barrel, and a vise or a benchrest used to eliminate shooter error, the gun is capable of producing a group of shots whose center points (center-to-center) fit into a circle, the average diameter of circles in several groups can be subtended by that amount of arc. For example, a 1 MOA rifle should be capable, under ideal conditions, of shooting an average 1-inch groups at 100 yards. Most higher-end rifles are warrantied by their manufacturer to shoot under a given MOA threshold (typically 1 MOA or better) with specific ammunition and no error on the shooter's part. For example, Remington's M24 Sniper Weapon System is required to shoot 0.8 MOA or better, or be rejected.
Rifle manufacturers and gun magazines often refer to this capability as sub-MOA, meaning it shoots under 1 MOA. This means that a single group of 3 to 5 shots at 100 yards, or the average of several groups, will measure less than 1 MOA between the two furthest shots in the group, i.e. all shots fall within 1 MOA. If larger samples are taken (i.e., more shots per group) then group size typically increases, however this will ultimately average out. If a rifle was truly a 1 MOA rifle, it would be just as likely that two consecutive shots land exactly on top of each other as that they land 1 MOA apart. For 5 shot groups, based on 95% confidence a rifle that normally shoots 1 MOA can be expected to shoot groups between 0.58 MOA and 1.47 MOA, although the majority of these groups will be under 1 MOA. What this means in practice is if a rifle that shoots 1-inch groups on average at 100 yards shoots a group measuring 0.7 inches followed by a group that is 1.3 inches this is not statistically abnormal.[7][8]
The Metric System counterpart of the MOA is the angular mil or mil, being equal to one 1000th of the target range, laid out on a circle that has the observer as centre and the target range as radius. The number of mils on a full such circle therefore always is equal to 2 × π × 1000, regardless the target range. Therefore, 1 MOA = 0.2908 mil. This means that an object which spans 1 mil on the reticle is at a range that is in meters equal to the object's size in millimeters (e.g. an object of 100 mm @ 1 Milrad is 100 meters away). So there is no conversion factor required, contrary to the MOA system. The markings on a reticle that mark mils are called mil-dots. Such reticle is called a mil-dot reticle.
Human vision
In humans, 20/20 vision is the ability to resolve a spatial pattern separated by a visual angle of one minute of arc. A 20/20 letter subtends 5 minutes of arc total.
The deviation from parallelism between two surfaces, for instance in optical engineering, is usually measured in arcminutes or arcseconds. In addition, arcseconds are sometimes used in rocking curve (ω-scan) x ray diffraction measurements of high-quality epitaxial thin films.
See also
- ↑ Some studies have shown a larger angular diameter for Betelgeuse. Various studies have produced figures of between 0.042 and 0.069 arcseconds for the star's diameter. The variability of Betelgeuse and difficulties in producing a precise reading for its angular diameter make any definitive figure conjectural.
- ↑ "CELESTIAL NAVIGATION COURSE". International Navigation School. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
It is a straightforward method [to obtain a position at sea] and requires no mathematical calculation beyond addition and subtraction of degrees and minutes and decimals of minutes
- ↑ "Astro Navigation Syllabus". Retrieved 4 November 2010.
[Sextant errors] are sometimes [given] in seconds of arc, which will need to be converted to decimal minutes when you include them in your calculation.
- ↑ "Shipmate GN30". Norinco. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ↑ Filippenko, Alex, Understanding the Universe (of The Great Courses, on DVD), Lecture 43, time 12:05, The Teaching Company, Chantilly, VA, USA, 2007.
- ↑ NASA.gov Pluto Fact Sheet
- ↑ Mann, Richard (2011-02-18). "Mil, MOA or inches?". Shooting Illustrated. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
- ↑ Wheeler, Robert E. "Statistical notes on rifle group patterns" (PDF). Retrieved 21 May 2009.
- ↑ Bramwell, Denton (January 2009). "Group Therapy The Problem: How accurate is your rifle?". Varmint Hunter. 69. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
External links
- MOA / mils By Robert Simeone


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Exam Profile: CCNA Data Center DCICN 640-911
- History of Cisco Data Center Certifications / Cisco Data Center Certifications: Networking and Computing / CCNA Data Center and the DCICN 640-911 Exam
- Exam Details / Preparation Hints / Recommended Study Resources
- Exam Objectives / Where to Go From Here
The DCICN 640-911 exam serves as the very first exam in a journey toward any Cisco Data Center certification. To put CCNA Data Center in context, this article reviews the history of the Cisco Data Center certifications. It then discusses one of the biggest differences between the Cisco Data Center certs and other tracks: The fact that the CCNA Data Center certification includes both networking and computing content. The rest of the article then focuses on the CCNA Data Center certification, the DCICN exam in particular, and how to prepare for that exam.
History of Cisco Data Center Certifications
Networking has been an important part of Data Centers for almost the entire history of Information Technology (IT). The earliest computer networks connected user terminals and printers to the applications running in the Data Center. Over time, the details of what makes up a Data Center have progressed tremendously, and networking's role has progressed as well—in both importance and complexity.
Data Centers have been transformed by virtualization and cloud computing. Today's virtualized Data Centers allow great flexibility, for example: applications to move between server OS instances; server instances (virtual machines) to move to new server hardware; and server resources (CPUs, RAM, etc.) to be reallocated to the needs of the VMs. Storage, formerly sitting on a disk drive inside a physical server, sits on a storage area network (SAN), also allowing great flexibility. To make all these Data Center features work, network technology has progressed by adding networking features unique to the needs of Data Centers.
Cisco has long been the leading company in traditional networking, but it has established a leadership position in storage networking and a highly competitive position in server computing technologies. Cisco began offering SAN products in the early 2000s, helping lead the transition from separate SANs to converged products that support both storage and more traditional networking with Ethernet LANs.
Cisco also launched its Unified Computing System (UCS) family of products in 2009: server hardware built with virtualization in mind, with an eye toward easier integration with the storage and networking features required in every Data Center. (And in June 2014, the Cisco UCS achieved the #1 market position in the x86 Blade server market.)
The tremendous growth in Data Center technology over the previous decade has led to a much greater need for skilled engineers with a skillset geared towards Data Centers. Cisco actually had a CCIE Storage certification for those early years of Cisco's SAN products. Then, in 2012, Cisco morphed CCIE SAN into CCIE Data Center. That same year, Cisco added the CCNA Data Center and CCNP Data Center certifications as well. The result: a traditional complete CCNA/CCNP/CCIE certification track for Cisco Data Center technology.
Cisco Data Center Certifications: Networking and Computing
The Cisco Data Center certification track as a whole, from CCNA through CCIE, requires about as much attention to the compute features in Cisco UCS as it does for networking features. As evidence for this relative equality between coverage of networking vs. computing:
- The CCNP Data Center certification requires that you pass four exams: you must choose two exams that happen to focus on networking and two that happen to focus on computing.
- Cisco lists a percentage weight for each major section of the exam (per the list of exam topics). If you look at the CCNP Data Center and CCIE Data Center exam topics in particular, those weightings work out to roughly the same for networking topics and computing topics.
Note that this comparison puts both storage networking and traditional networking together.
However, the CCNA Data Center certification focuses much more on networking than on computing. In fact, the DCICN exam has no real coverage of compute or storage; the DCICT 640-916 exam (typically the second of the two CCNA Data Center exams that you would take) introduces compute and storage while still covering more networking (at least per the weighting information in Cisco's exam topics.)
CCNA Data Center and the DCICN 640-911 Exam
The CCNA Data Center certification requires that you pass two exams with no other prerequisites. Although you can pass the exams in either order, most people start with the DCICN 640-911 exam because DCICT relies on knowledge obtained in DCICN.
DCICN focuses on networking—no storage networking and no compute—as implemented on Cisco's Nexus family of Data Center switches. The major topics include these:
- Layer 2 Ethernet switching
- Layer 3 IPv4 routing
- General networking concepts
- Spanning Tree Protocol
- Virtual LANs and VLAN Trunking
- IP Routing Protocols and OSPF
- IP Access Control Lists
- Implementing and verifying these features on Nexus switches
Note that the end of this post lists the now-current DCICN 640-911 exam topics as of the time this article was posted. However, you should always check www.cisco.com/go/ccna and navigate to the correct exam to check the latest exam topics.
One big difference between the Cisco Data Center certifications, including the DCICN exam, is the focus on the Nexus switch product line and its operating system, NX-OS. The Cisco Nexus product line supports layer 2 Ethernet switching, layer 3 switching (IP routing), storage networking, various advanced protocols to support Data Center functions, and with virtual switch options to help create virtualized Data Centers. The DCICN exam includes details of NX-OS support of layer 2 Ethernet switching and layer 3 IP routing, plus related protocols.
Unlike many of Cisco's other CCNA certifications, the CCNA DC certification does not require the CCENT or CCNA Routing and Switching certification as a prerequisite. One reason Cisco does not require any prerequisite is that the DCICN exam topics have a large amount of overlap with the CCNA R/S exams. In fact, the ICND1 100-101 exam (which earns you the CCENT certification) sets the foundational skills for a career in networking using Cisco routers and Cisco Catalyst switches, whereas the DCICN 640-911 does the same, for many of the same concepts, but with the implementation on Nexus switches.
The following figure shows the current CCNA certifications with the minimum prerequisites. Note that CCNA Data Center, CCNA Video, and CCNA Service Provider are currently the only ones that do not require at least a CCENT certification as a prerequisite.


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Training of Trainers (TOT) Institutes
UFE is one of the few national organizations that trains and supports organizers, educators, activists, and others, to lead interactive presentations on economic inequality. There are several hundred TOT Institute graduates nationwide who use UFE's Popular Economics Education methods and/or materials in their justice work. We hold these intensive Training of Trainer Institutes several times a year.
Who Should Attend?
The Training of Trainers Institute serves activists, educators, organizers, clergy and laypersons working on issues of economic or social justice. We also accepts applications from trainers seeking to improve their teaching skills and become more comfortable presenting economic information.
The Institute's Curriculum
The Institute will include:
- Key economic trends, viewed through class, race, and gender lenses;
- How rules and policies have contributed to the growing economic divide;
- A brief history of US popular resistance to economic inequality;
- Strategies for building a movement for economic equity;
- Selected principles and practices of popular education;
- Practice leading participatory activities about economic inequality; and
- Learning from others and buiilding community among people working for economic justice.
Mini Training of Trainers: UFE offers shorter versions of the full four-day Institute. Similar material is covered in an abbreviated version. To request a Mini-TOT, email [email protected]
Full TOT Institute: Each four-day TOT Institute consists of work sessions in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings, with breaks during the day to allow participants to take advantage of recreational attractions available at the conference sites.
Each Institute features presentations of UFE's workshops; a review of key principles and practices of popular education; time for small teams to plan, practice, and get feedback on activities from the Growing Divide workshop or curricula that participants bring to the Institute; sessions on responding to challenging questions and difficult situations; and an exploration of education in the context of organizing, mobilizing, and movement building.
It is necessary to attend the full TOT Institute in order to get the maximum benefit of the training. Materials, including a workshop Trainer's Manual and handouts, a detailed agenda for the Institute, background and reference materials, and short readings are included in the Institute fee. Additional logistic and background information will be sent to all registrants prior to the training to help participants prepare. To request a Training of Trainers Institute, email [email protected].
Sliding Fee Scale: $500 - $1,500 (based on what you or your organization can afford). This fee includes meals, accommodations, and training materials. Transportation is NOT included in the fee.
A minimum $25 non-refundable deposit is required at the time of application. Payment in full is due one week before the start of the Institute.
We have limited funds available for scholarships to help offset a portion of the Institute's cost. These are available for participants representing community and grassroots organizations with limited financial resources. Applicants will have the opportunity to request aid after submitting the registration application.
We welcome contributions and sponsorships from well-funded organizations and individuals to help facilitate the participation of less well-funded groups. Gifts are tax deductible. Please click here to contribute!
For More Information
Contact us at [email protected].


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Look with me, would you, at Ephesians chapter 6. This morning again I'm not going to continue our series of Ephesians simply because we're going to take a little break the next few weeks and I don't want to get into chapter 6 verses 10 and following until we can do it as a unit. It is the section on the armor of the Christian and it deserves our concentrated attention, and rather than just begin and then depart and then come back to it again, I'd rather wait until after Easter and then really go at it with all of our efforts.
And so this morning I want to sort of use Ephesians 6:10 to 12, which is our next Scripture, just as a jumping off point to begin some thoughts that I think are really essential for us today. About once a year I get the feeling that I need to speak pointedly to issues regarding the future of Grace Church. And this Scripture, as I was reading it over and praying about what the Lord would have me share with you this week, really kind of set the tone for me. You'll notice in verse 10 of Ephesians 6, which is the next verse in our continuing study, "finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies." And we'll stop there.
And I was reading that I was saying to myself that really is the way to end the book of Ephesians because what the apostle Paul is saying is this: if you are a true Christian as defined in chapter 1, chapter 2 and chapter 3, and if you are living the way a true Christian should live as defined in chapter 4, 5 and 6, then you can be sure of one thing and that is that you are going to run right into the enemy. It is impossible to live in the manner that Ephesians outlines without having conflict with Satan. It's impossible.
And that's why having said all of this he says "the final thing you need to know is that you have to be strong. You have to put on the armor of God because you're in a spiritual war." It's a war. I remember when I first came to Grace Church that I thought it was a honeymoon, and then a few years later I kind of felt that it wasn't quite so adventurous. It was more like work. I'd have to crank out all these sermons, preach them on Sunday, start all over again on Monday again, and since I hadn't had any backlog I was telling you everything I knew, I was racing like mad to stay up, and it was work.
A few years ago I woke up and realized it isn't a honeymoon and it isn't work. It's war. We're in a battle. It's a war, and that's essentially what Paul is saying here. If we are, as Ephesians 4:1 says, "walking worthy of the vocation to which we're called." If we're walking in humility and unity, not in the vanity of our mind as the Gentiles. If we're putting on the new man. If we're walking in love, not lust. If we're walking in light, not darkness. If we're walking in wisdom, not foolishness. If we're not drunk with wine but filled with the Spirit.
If we're not singing the world's songs but psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and if rather than being proud and individualistic we are submitting ourselves one to another, and if we are submitting as wives should to husbands as to the Lord, and if husbands are loving their wives as Christ loved the church, and if children are obeying their parents and parents are nurturing and rearing their children to the things of God, and if employees and employers have right relationships biblically and with Spirit-filled impact, then believe me, we will counter the system. We will run against the grain.
And that's exactly what's happening in our society. I received a phone call this week from CBS network. They wanted me to come on for an hour and debate a woman feminist from the National Organization of Women. We are becoming known around the world. Not always for the things that we believe but for the things that people think we believe. I have received clippings almost every day from somebody in the country who has pulled out an article about our church misrepresenting where we're at or what we're trying to say to one degree or another and very concerned about whether I've gone crazy.
But the point that I'm making is that we have begun to take a stand against some things in the world. We've always done this. It's just that our size and our impact and the great blessing of God has made all of this something the world can't ignore anymore, and so we're starting to make waves in the world. And it's kind of exciting but believe me, when God begins to bless a church, Satan begins to attack the same church, and if you think you've started coming to Grace just so you can settle in your little nest out there in the corner somewhere and get real comfy you're wrong. I think that we're about to be tested, maybe in ways we've never been tested before.
The Bible talks about the believer being a soldier, and I think that's right, and Paul said to Timothy, "as soldiers endure hardness," and that means "suffer with." And I really feel that because of the fact that God has blessed us He is requiring much of us. You know the world watches this church. It's amazing to me. I receive mail every day from foreign countries, from pastors from every imaginable country in the globe. I receive regularly letters from pastors in obscure places in India, in places in other parts of the Orient, in Europe and South America, South Africa, the main part of Africa, New Zealand, Australia.
It goes on and on and on like that, saying "tell us what you're doing in your church. How and why is God blessing?" And then I see not only the eyes of the pastors and the churches of the world but the eyes of the media, people watching us, the unregenerate world watching us, and God is doing a wonderful thing, and I trust and pray that it's to His glory, but any time that begins to happen we need to be warned.
I think about the apostle Paul, the same town of Ephesus. He went into Ephesus and incredible things happened. He went into that town and he began to preach the Word of God in the synagogue "and some hardened their hearts," it says in Acts 19, "but some believed and the ones that believed listened to him," and he taught but finally the others were so antagonistic they ran him out of the synagogue and he went to the school of Tyrannus, and for two years he taught every day, probably from 1:00 in the afternoon to 5:00 in the evening for two solid years. And it says that great things happened, miracles were wrought by the hands of the apostle Paul, the people who were involved in incredible kinds of magical worship began to burn their magic books. There was riot.
And the guys who sold the little silver gods that were part of the trade found that they weren't able to do it anymore. People were really becoming iconoclastic. They were smashing their idols and the city was in incredible uproar, and it says in Acts 19 "so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." And that great Ephesian church founded by Paul, later on given direction by Aquila and Priscilla and finally by Timothy and Apollos, knew the best of men and the best of circumstances and the greatest history. And yet when they began to really move Satan began to attack, and he began to attack in very subtle ways because that's always his plan.
You know I believe in Ephesians 3:20, "Now in him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think according to the power that worketh in us unto him be glory in the church." I believe He wants glory in His church and I believe He gains that glory by allowing the church through His power to do things beyond what we can even dream, and I think God wants to go way beyond where we are now. I think we're just beginning to see what God would do when a group of people is totally committed to walk a worthy walk, when a group of people is totally committed to live the kind of life that Ephesians 4, 5, and 6 calls for.
But as soon as that begins, Satan will oppose it. We see it all around us. You go back into the Old Testament for example and you see God sending an angel in Daniel chapter 10, and a demon withholds that angel so that that angel cannot accomplish the divine purpose, and God had to dispatch a greater angel, a stronger angel to blast that demon out and send that angel on his way. You'll find in Jude 9, Michael the archangel having a battle with Satan over the body of Moses. Satan trying to restrain Michael from claiming the body of Moses for God.
So there is a high-level spiritual struggle and we're even involved. Ephesians 6:12, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness and the heavenlies." So we are engaged in this tremendous conflict, and that's why I say it's war. I think American Christianity has become very smug and very content and almost subcultural, rather than confronting we're just kind of waltzing along with the system, trying to accommodate it. We believe we can win them by becoming what they are.
But just the opposite is true. We have to counter the system. Well, we need to be aware of the fact that Satan's going to attack. You know James in chapter 4 says "resist the devil and he will flee from you." 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8 and 9, Peter says "Be sober, be vigilant." Why? "Because you're adversary the devil like a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in faith knowing the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." In other words, Satan is going to be there. Resist him. Be sober. Be vigilant. Be aware. Be alert and know what he's doing.
2 Corinthians 2:11 says that "we should not be ignorant of his devices lest he gain an advantage of us." In Acts chapter 20 Paul was talking to those same leaders in the Ephesian church, and he said to them this: he said, "I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in, not sparing this flock and of your own selves shall men arise teaching perverse things." He says, "I know as well as I know my name. I know as well as I know the sun comes up tomorrow you're going to get it as soon as I leave from outside and inside, wolves from the outside and false teachers from the inside." "Therefore," verse 31 of Acts 20, "I have not ceased to warn you night and day for the space of three years with tears," he says. Part of the ministry is a warning ministry.
When God has blessed us as He has, when God has multiplied His audience as He has, and God is using us to cut a path through this evil world then, believe me, Satan is going to come after us, and we have to be ready and we have to get the armor on, but first of all we've got to understand his attack. We've got to understand his ploy. We do not want to be ignorant of his devices.
How does Satan attack us? Well, for the answer to that I want you to turn to Revelation chapter 1. You know I had an interesting thing happen to me one time. I went into a room. I was called in to where a girl was filled with demons and the demons all had different voices. They used her mouth and so forth to speak, but the voices were not hers, and it was amazing because there was a terrible thing going on in this room and this girl had flipped over a desk and was slashing and smashing things around.
And when I walked in the door all of a sudden she hit the chair and just looked at me in a frenzied look and in a voice not her own, because I knew her own voice - the voice said, "Get him out. Not him. Get him out." My reaction to that was I was excited, because I was glad those demons knew who's side I was on. They know. Believe me.
They know me. And they know this church and they know what God is doing here, and they'll try to stop it and the way they'll stop it or try to stop it is through you because a church is only a collection of links like a chain and only as strong as its weakest one. Satan is going to attack. How does he attack? I believe the Lord shows us in the letters of Revelation 2 and 3.
I believe in the letters to the churches, the seven churches of Asia Minor, the first of which is Ephesus, and then the others that were literally born out of the Ephesian church. The other six being also in Asia Minor. I believe the Lord gives us insight into how Satan attacks the church and at least once every year or so I feel compelled to warn our church in this regard.
Now let's set the scene by looking at Revelation chapter 1 and verse 9. John the beloved apostle is on the isle of Patmos; he was in exile for his faith, and here it is that God gives him marvelous visions and in these visions he sees what God wants to reveal about the church. Now you'll notice in verse 10 John says, "I was in the Spirit," and by that I think he means that he is in a position to receive revelation from the Spirit "on the Lord's day." That would be on a Sunday. "And I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia" - Asia Minor. "Unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamum, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, unto Philadelphia and unto Laodicea."
Now the Lord has a word for these seven churches. Most interestingly these are seven historical, actual, real churches, but they are also prototypes of churches that exist in all periods of church history, because each of them has a unique characteristic to which the Lord speaks. And there are churches in every age including today that could be classified as Ephesian churches or Smyrna churches or Pergamum churches or Thyatira or Sardis or Philadelphia or Laodicean churches. And so they are not just historical churches, though they are that, but they present to us a prototype for other periods of history.
Now notice the scene in verse 12. "I turned to see the voice that spoke to me and being turned I saw seven golden lampstands." What are the seven golden lamp stands? Verse 20 tells you at the end the seven lampstands are the seven churches. So here is John's vision. He sees a lampstand which is symbolic of each of the churches and the lamp is blazing, it's lit, and the church is to be a light in the world, isn't it? It's to be the place that lights up the darkness. And so there they are, the seven churches of Asia Minor, each represented by a lampstand.
And in the midst of the seven lampstands "one like the Son of man." This is Jesus Christ, and He's moving in His church, He's moving through the church. And he's clothed with a garment down to the foot. By the way, garments like that were worn by priests, prophets and kings, and so the consummation of all of those elements in Christ. He was girded about His middle with a golden girdle. "His head and his hair were white like wool as white as snow" - speaking of His holiness and His purity – "and his eyes were like a flame of fire," searching and penetrating.
So here is the Lord and we see Him in His kingly, priestly, prophetic garb, and we see Him with white so that He symbolizes purity and then His eyes searching, penetrating as He evaluates the church. "And his feet like fine bronze as if they burned in a furnace." Why? Because He has to judge His church sometimes. Peter even said it. "Judgment must begin at the house of God." And we see also that "his voice is like the sound of many waters," a great, commanding, authoritative voice.
He had in His right hand seven stars. What are they? Verse 20 tells you. "The seven stars in the middle of the voice are the angels or the ministers of the seven churches." And so in His hand are the ministers, and He moves among the churches evaluating, searching, penetrating, examining the churches, getting ready to write the seven letters. His evaluation is in chapter 1. The result is in chapter 2 and 3. And so he begins, John does, with the letters in chapter 2.
And what does the Lord say to these churches? Well, beloved, let me tell you, these are seven absolutely incredible letters. Five of them, mark it, are warnings. To two of the churches there is no warning. To the church at Smyrna and Philadelphia apparently there needed to be no warning. The church at Smyrna was the persecuted church. The church at Philadelphia was the evangelizing, aggressive, soul-winning church. Seems to me that those two things are wonderful preservatives.
When a church is persecuted it tends to maintain its purity because all of the impurity drops out. You're not about to identify with an outfit where you're going to get persecuted unless you're pretty serious. Right? So persecution has a way of purifying and so does evangelism, because as long as you're heart is toward the world and as long as you're aggressively reaching the lost you tend to be going outward rather than ingrown. And the Philadelphia church, the church with the open door, was a blessed church, and the Smyrna church, the church that was being rained on by the fires of the opposition, was a blessed church, but the other five stood in need of deep warnings.
And there's a progression to the five warnings. They start at what seems a very, a very light kind of situation and they become so oppressive as to finally become apostate and a church which is utterly no church at all. There's a descending thing that we've seen happen in many churches throughout history.
As I look at Grace Church and I read those five warnings as I did this week, I'm very much aware that the same thing could happen to us that's happened to thousands and thousands and thousands of churches around the world. You start out so good. You start out like the Ephesian church did and the descent comes and pretty soon you've got nothing left. I've been in auditoriums in this country that seat 4,000 people, and on a Sunday morning there's 150 liberals huddled in the front and that's it. I've seen that. I've seen God write "Ichabod" on a lot of things and a lot of churches, but I don't want that to happen.
We're talking about putting a balcony in here. We've just added 200 and some odd seats in the back because the city gave us permission, and then we're talking about a balcony and an education building and all of these things and I am excited about that, but only if I know that when that balcony is there it's going to be occupied by people who will hear the Word of God. And that building is going to be occupied by children and young people and adults who are going to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. Otherwise I'm not interested, and I want to do what I can to warn you because I believe Satan would like to turn this place into a great big stone quarry with nothing left but a bunch of rocks.
So what do we need to be warned about? Let's look and see. First of all, the thing that hit the church at Ephesus. They left their first love. They left their first love. This is enough to make a message all on its own. Notice verse 1, "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: these things saith he that holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lamp stands." This is the Son of man. This is Jesus Christ writing to His own church. This isn't somebody's opinion. This is Christ.
And he says in verse 2 to them, "I know thy works," and man it was a fabulous story in Ephesus, it was an incredible history there, how they had literally thrown a city into confusion and chaos. They had overturned a system of religion. That little group of believers that started out in the midst as if they were an island of purity in a sea of wretchedness had been able to so infiltrate and purify parts of that city that they brought to a halt some of the most complex systems of religion at that time. That little group of people had an incredible beginning and who could think of a better one to begin it than Paul? And who could think of more wonderful pastors than Apollos who was the greatest proclaimer of the Word of God and oratorical ability perhaps that ever lived, and better than Timothy who was one who would teach them the same things in the same way Paul did. They had those people for their leaders, and they were a working church.
I know your kopos, he says, your hard work to the point of sweat. You really go after it. You're involved, your labor, your patience; you have hupomone, you are able to endure through the tough times, and man, being in Ephesus wasn't an easy place. The center of the worship of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the world, the temple was an incredible mess. There were scores of eunuchs, thousands of priestess prostitutes, herald singers, flautists, and on and on just creating a hysteria of music and orgy and drunkenness and frenzy and sexual mutilation so that Heraclitus said that the morals of the people of that temple were less than that of animals.
That the preaching of Paul had so affected all of that that the idol sales dropped off and a riot resulted. They were a tremendous church. They had endurance in the midst of a tough place, really tough. And he says not only that but "you can't bear them that are evil." You can't handle those that are evil, he says. You're dealing with sin. You don't tolerate sin for a minute. When somebody comes along and they're doing evil, you deal with that. You are intolerant of sinners.
Look at verse 6. It says "This thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate," and the Nicolaitans apparently were resulting from an individual named Nicolas who was a man who espoused sexual immorality. Someone said of Nicolas "he abandoned himself to pleasure like a goat." Whatever this thing was, and we're not really sure, it seems to have come from that. We know that it has to do with licentious, lewd, immoral, evil, fornicating-type of behavior.
And he says, "You hate that. You have the works going. You're laboring. You're patient. You don't tolerate sin." And verse 2 says, "You even try them who say they are apostles and are not." In other words, "You deal with the false teachers, you have a biblical standard, you've got a statement of faith, you've got a theology, and you measure men by it. You're doctrinally solid. You're dealing with sin. You're working hard."
Man, it sounds like a great church, and it says in verse 3, repeating, "you have borne." You've endured things in the past, and you've come out all right, and you "have patience and for My name's sake you labored." Listen, that's the greatest motive for anything a Christian does. "For My name's sake you did it." The glory of God was their motive, the highest motive in all the universe. You even had the right motive. You were serving My glory, My name, and you labored and you didn't faint.
Well, what a great church - doctrinally solid, busy unmasking the false teachers, disciplining those that were sinning. They really had it together but they had one fatal flaw, and you go back to verse 14 of chapter 1, and you see that Christ's eyes are like a flame of fire. They search and they penetrate, and the searching, penetrating eyes of Jesus Christ found a fatal flaw in verse 4. "Nevertheless I have this against thee because thou hast left thy first love." This is the church where love died. Orthodoxy, activity without love.
When they read it it must have hit like a thunderbolt because nobody thinks he loves God as much as the orthodox do, the fundamental, the evangelical. And yet their definition of love wasn't God's. They missed the one basic thing that Jesus had said to Peter three times. "Peter before I ask you to feed my sheep I've got to ask you something else. Peter do you love me? Peter do you love me? Peter do you love me? If you say yes then feed my sheep." Why? Because you cannot be effective for God apart from loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
And you know, people, I can see this potential problem at Grace Church. We have so much; we are involved in so much that it becomes very easy for us to get our focus off the personality of Jesus Christ. We lose the love, and all of a sudden we are satisfied with the activity. That's not it.
This is one of the greatest churches in all history and yet the Lord's penetrating eyes found this fatal flaw. They had turned in their hot hearts for cold orthodoxy. They were becoming those who simply carried out a very biblical ministry. There just wasn't any passion there. And I warn you about that and I warn my own heart. From the elders and the pastoral staff right down to those that are visiting us. If we ever get to the place where what we do is an orthodox performance without love, that's step one and Satan has a foothold.
And you don't even want to know what the rest of the steps are but you're going to find out. When you come to the place where the honeymoon ends and you don't do what you do out of an overwhelming love for Jesus Christ you're in real trouble. Look at your own life. Is the enthusiasm for Christ there or is the thrill gone? Is it a fair description of your Christian life to say, "Well, I just kind of do it. I don't have the same love I used to have." If you love anything in this world more than you love Jesus Christ you've lost your first love. Yourself, your family, your leisure, money, success – anything - you've lost it. If the honeymoon's over in your life like it was in Ephesus, we're in real trouble, real trouble. If you're serving the Lord Jesus Christ at this church as an orthodox performance rather than a passion of love for Him, then you've missed it. You have missed it, all together.
You say, "Well what do I do if I feel that way?" Verse 5, three things. Remember. Remember. It's amazing. Spiritual defection usually comes from forgetting. Spiritual defection usually comes from forgetting, and so he says, "Remember." Did you forget what it used to be? Remember how it was before your love grew cold. Remember that warmth and that fire and that joy and that exhilaration. Remember.
Secondly, repent. "Remember therefore from where you're fallen and repent." It is a fall you know. Not to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself. Not to have that first love for Him and for others. Not to have that first love is a fall from which you must repent.
Listen. If the first reaction you have to a believer is anything but love, you've lost your first love. If the first reaction you have to Jesus Christ is anything less than consummate love, you've lost your first love and you need to repent. And then he says a third thing. Remember, repent, and repeat, and "do the first works." Go back to how it used to be. If it's cold, mechanical service in orthodoxy, go back to where it all started. Get back to your knees. Get back to the Book. Get back to witnessing. Get back to fellowship. Get back to prayer. Get back to sharing and praising the Lord. Stay close to the fire, that's what He's saying.
You know what happened in Ephesus? They didn't do it. They didn't remember and they didn't repent and they didn't repeat, and so what it says in verse 5 happened. "I will come unto thee quickly and remove thy lampstand out of its place except thou repent." The church in Ephesus died, went out of existence. Great, evangelical, orthodox, historic, monumental church went out of existence because it lost its first love.
There's a second thing to be aware of. Verse 12 of chapter 2. We skipped the church at Smyrna because that was the persecuted church and it isn't warned. "But to the angel at the church in Pergamum write; These things saith he who has the sharp sword with two edges." That's the Lord, and the sword is a sword of judgment coming out of His mouth as in Revelation 19, Hebrews chapter 4. He says "I know thy works," verse 13, "and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's throne is: and that thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith even in those days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells."
Stop right there. He says, "Pergamus, I know everything about you. My searching, penetrating gaze reveals all these things. I know your works. I know you're involved. I know you're active. I know there's something going on, and I know that you are where Satan's throne is. You're in a tough place." And man, Pergamus was a tough city. Do you know that Pergamus was the center of emperor worship, the center of the worship of Caesar?
Do you know that it was the center of the worship of Zeus, the great god - some say the greatest god of all that system of deities - and that in the city of Pergamus they had built a huge altar to Zeus in the shape of a throne, and so some feel that the throne of Satan, as mentioned in verse 13, is a reference to the altar of Zeus, the greatest, most famous, largest altar in the world.
On the other hand, Pergamus had its own god by the name of Asclepius. He was the Pergamese god who was associated with healing, the god of healing. He's always been associated with snakes, and in Pergamus they had a temple and a medical school. You still see a snake on the symbol of a physician, and that really comes from Greek mythology, from this Asclepius, the god of healing. And in the temple they had nonpoisonous snakes all over the floor, and people who were ill would come and lie there so that those snakes could crawl over them and everywhere they touched them they would be healed.
Listen, it was tough being in Pergamus. It was tough being a little group of Christians in the midst of a terrible Pagan society. So He says, "I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and I know you hold fast My name and you have not denied the faith, even to the point where some of you died, namely one dear brother, Antipas, whose life was taken away in that place where Satan dwells." Boy, you know it's tough, but let me tell you something, folks. To live in a tough city, to be in a tough environment, to live in a tough time of the world and name the name of Jesus Christ. Listen, there's no reason to lower the standards even then. That doesn't change them. Even then they're the same.
God says, "I know it's tough there. That doesn't change the standards. I know it's hard. That doesn't change anything. Even though you've endured and even though you've been martyred and even though you've worked on for the Lord, even though you've upheld his name," verse 14, "I have a few things against you." And what is it?
"Because you have them there that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication." Let me tell you what that is. Balaam got the children of Israel to intermarry with the pagans and to get into their idolatry, and what He's saying here is: that's compromised with pagan systems. And the problem in the church at Pergamus was they were compromising with the world.
They were intermarrying. I don't know whether that actually was going on, whether there were actually Christians intermarrying with non-Christians. Very likely that was happening. But the church at Pergamus began to court the world. They began to indulge themselves in worldly things.
They were violating 2 Corinthians 6, "What fellowship has light with darkness. What concord has Christ with Belial?" They were to "come out from among them and be separate and touch not the unclean thing," but they were the worldly church. They had let the world come in. They were doing what the world wanted them to do. They were aping the world.
It's amazing to me, and I've been telling this to you now for months. It's amazing to me how the church of Christ in America today is going all out, whole hog, to ape the world. They do it in so many ways. If the world's view of the family changes, the church accommodates it. If the world's view of the woman changes, the church accommodates it. If the world's view of the homosexual changes, the church accommodates it, and we get on the bandwagon with everything the world does. We want to identify with it. It's shocking. Just shocking. The church becomes materialistic because the world is materialistic. The church becomes preoccupied with entertainment because the world is preoccupied with entertainment. And just to give you an illustration with that, something I was reading this week. Do you know that in the last ten years, while there is a steady rise in the number of born-again people, there's a corresponding steady decline in the number of church members? Because these people aren't going to churches.
And this article I read this last week, very insightful article, said that the rise of what is known as the electronic church - there are many who feel is the number one reason people don't identify with a local church. They sit at home behind their little television and the church comes to them. They don't have to get dressed, don't have to leave the house, everything is all perfect. It's another part - watch this one - of the fantasy. You know, TV is a fantasy, and our world wants to live in that fantasy, and you go home and you sit there and that church is a perfect church.
I mean the music is unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Orchestras and people with flowing gowns and great singers, and the parade goes on and the lights and camera angles and all of this. And the preacher is perfectly in order, and he gives his message and there it is, the fantasy church, and you never sit next to anybody you don't like, and nobody ever talks to disturb you, and you don't have to find a place to park. It's glorious. And you just send in a little conscience money now and then and they'll tell you you're winning the world for doing that, and they'll send you a thing you can plaster on your wall to prove how sacrificial you are. Really it's a sad thing.
And you know what happens? One writer said that the electronic church is built on entertainment. And the electronic church apes the very things in the world the church has always condemned. The electronic church inevitably comes through as a mere expression of cultural religion, aping the values and the glitter and the trappings of the very values and kinds of success that we profess as Christians to reject. People don't want to go. And the only churches that can compete with that one are large ones like ours. The little church really can't.
Martin Marty, who has a way with words, believe me, describes this electronic church phenomenon in this way. "Late Saturday night Mr. and Mrs. Invisible Religion get their jollies from the ruffle shirted, pink tuxedoed man and high coiffured, low-necklined celebrity women who talk about themselves under the guise of born-again autobiographies. Sunday morning the watchers get their jollies as Holy Ghost entertainers caress microphones among spurting fountains as a highly professional, charismatic leader entertains them.
"Are they to turn off that very set and then make their way down a block to a congregation of real believers, sinners, off-key choirs, sweaty and homely people, people they don't like but are supposed to love, ordinary pastors who preach grace along with calls to discipleship. Pleas for stewardship that don't come well-oiled. Never. Well, hardly ever. Since the electronic church, you remind me, at least preaches Christ and thus may do some good, let it be. Let its members pay for it, but let the church catch on to what is going on and go its own way, undistracted by the offers of cheap grace or the language of the cross without the bearing of the cross."
Pretty straightforward stuff. Let's live in the real world, people, huh? This is the real world in a real church. The church is so smug and so comfortable in its compromise with the world that it falls into the fantasy and then in verse 15 He says, "You have them there that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans." What happened in Pergamus? Pergamus decided they could waltz the world. Pergamus decided they could court the world. They could draw the world in a little bit and do a little of the world's thing in the world's way and allow some immorality in verse 15, and they'll be all right.
An elder told me that two elders and their wives exchanged wives in the church that he was in in the past. They thought they shouldn't do anything about that. It might upset the congregation. Church tolerates sin and sort of compromises a little. Oh the message is still the same, and we preach Christ and yet the compromise begins to eat away like termites at the foundation and so He says in verse 16, "Repent; or else I'll come unto thee quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth."
Listen. You know how Satan attacks a church? First it's very subtle. We lose our first love. And then all of a sudden we begin to compromise with the world because the easiest thing to lead you into compromise is a lack of love for God. If you really love God and you love the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, your desire above all things will be to maintain His absolute honor. Right? And to do that you can't compromise with the system. But as soon as you cool in your love, then it becomes easier to fall into the trap of the system. By the way, you're going to love something, and if it isn't God you'll wind up loving what's around you.
There's a third church that I want to mention to you. The church at Thyatira, verse 18. "Unto the angel in the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine bronze." He's searching, penetrating and coming in judgment and this sounds so good. "I know thy works, and love, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first." You're even getting better at this stuff.
Now here's a church that's really working. Boy, they're active, and they've really got it all going. If the church in Pergamus married the world, the church in Thyatira is celebrating their anniversaries. This is the church that tolerates sin. Ephesus lost their first love. Pergamus compromised with the world. Thyatira tolerant of sin. The floodgate was open and sin is there. Verse 20. In spite of all your works, all your love, all your service, all your faith and patience, and all this stuff, and that it's even increasing, "I have a few things" - by the way is not in the Greek manuscripts. "I have this against thee. Because thou allows that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication, and eat things sacrificed unto idols."
You know what that church did? They had all those good things, love and service and faith, but they let the church become a victim of a false teacher. They just allowed sin to come in, have its heyday. There were people committing fornication. Sounds like the Corinthian church doesn't it? And by the way, that went out of existence too. But here came this woman and she was seducing and involving them in the idol worship of the day - and I've told you this before - but idolatry of those eras of history involved sexual activity, and so here were these people just having a great time, getting involved in the filth and the rot of the world.
You know, people, there's more of that going on in Grace Church than I think ever has in the past, but we're not going to tolerate it any more than we have in the past. It's a rare day when you have a couple come in for premarital counseling and you ask them "Have you gone to bed together?" and they say no. That's becoming a rare thing. Is that shocking to you? It's becoming a rare thing. This is a very vile and evil world we live in, and people are drawn into sin if they're not aware of what's going on and they don't build their defenses and walk in the Spirit. But I'll tell you, we're not going to tolerate it any differently than we ever tolerated it.
We have a lot more of evil around us by virtue of volumes of people, but our tolerance for it is no more existent than it ever has been. But this church began to allow it and God was even patient, verse 21: "I gave her space to repent." God even gave a little time for repentance "and she repented not." And then He says, "Behold I'll cast her into a bed." She likes beds so much, I'll put her in a bed. She wants to commit fornication, I'll put her into a fornicating situation. And verse 23 says it will be a bed of death. "I'll kill her children with death." That's what I'll do. Whoever those people are who have listened to this Jezebel are designated as her children, and He says, "I'll kill her children with death." It will be a bed of death. I'll put them in bed - death bed. And the churches will look and say "I am he that searches the minds and hearts: and I'll give every one of you according to your works."
Listen, the Lord will judge this church, beloved. Don't you think you can be a believer and get away from God in His chastening. Not at all. The bed of vice will be exchanged for a death bed. Because they've committed adultery, they've committed adultery, verse 22 says. Why? Because the believer is married to Christ, and fooling around with idols and sexual activity is a form of adultery. I tell you, He says to the church that tolerates sin, "you better repent." You better turn around. And if you don't repent, end of verse 22, "I'll kill you with death."
Now for those of you who aren't involved, in verse 24 He says, "I'm not going to put any other burden on you. Just hang on to what you've got till I get there. But to those that are evil, I'm going to bring a judgment." Here is the church that tolerates sin. Beloved, there are so many churches that do this. They just don't want to deal with sin. They just don't want to confront anybody. They say, "You mean you discipline people in your church?" We do. Because the Bible says to. "Oh, we don't want to get into any of that because we might make…" You see tolerating sin. Compromising with the world.
And it just descends. You start with a loss of love, and then pretty soon when you don't love the Lord anymore you're willing to compromise. You compromise a little bit and pretty soon your compromise becomes a tolerance and sin floods the church and you go right from that kind of a situation in Thyatira into the next chapter. Verse 1, you're in the Sardis church and this is a church that is content with programs. All of a sudden the life is gone. A church that tolerates sin becomes a degenerate, dead church, and He says "I know thy works," verse 1, "that thou hast a name, that thou livest but are dead."
A dead church, a corpse. Do you know that Sardis was one of the greatest cities in the ancient world? In fact, its greatest king was named Croesus, and when we want to say somebody is really rich we say they're as rich as Croesus. That church, or rather that city, was literally synonymous with wealth. That city went out of existence. That church went out of existence. The church because it was a degenerate, dead church.
Just a few things kicking a little bit. Verse 2, "Be watchful. Strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die." They were either dead or ready to die. All they had left was form, like the rhyme of the ancient mariner, corpses man the ship, dead men pull the oars, and dead men steer the vessel. The thing was going, functioning - just everybody was dead.
This is when the church becomes a group of activities, a series or programs. You have your classes and you have your little groups and you have your activities for the kids and for the young people and for the adults, and everybody's very busy, and the fleet's rolling, and the people are coming. It's just that there's no life there. God's not there. "Ichabod" is written. The glory is departed.
And the sequence is easy to see. You lose the first love. A loss of that first, consuming, passionate love and you begin to compromise with the world. You compromise with the world and sin floods in and you begin to give in to sin and tolerate it, and when sin completely takes over the church, then the spiritual life is choked out and what you have is a dead church. Like Samson, you're moving around. You just don't have any strength. You're a victim.
And so He says in verse 3, "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Oh, He says, there are "a few names in Sardis that have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy." There were still a few. This church is just barely hanging on. A few things that are dying, and a few people that are left. Started in Ephesus, tremendous church; began to lose its first love, and now we're down - just a few are left and this is the way it goes. Few hanging on, whose garments are white; just a few.
You know the next step? The next step in the descent of the church comes as Satan attacks in his final blow in verse 14 of chapter 3, the church of Laodicea. Our Lord warns the church that leaves its first love, the church that compromises with the world, the church that tolerates sin, the church that is content with its forms and it's rituals and its organization and its programs, and lastly He warns the church that is the apostate church. The church that is no church at all, Laodicea.
"To the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hold: I would thou wert cold or hot." And what our Lord means there is this: cold means indifferent to the gospel, unsaved and not interested, just not even concerned. Not hypocritical. No pretense at all - unsaved, unmoved, uninterested.
I wish you were like that, or that you were hot, believing, saved, redeemed, but you are neither hot or cold. You are lukewarm and that is the worst of all. That is playing Christianity. That's the hypocrisy that nauseates Christ, and He says, "because you are lukewarm and neither cold or hot I'll spue you out of my mouth." The cold He preaches to through His messengers. The hot He embraces in His bosom. The lukewarm He spits out of His mouth. They are the hypocrites, and this is the hypocritical church, the phony church, the church that is no church.
And this is liberalism today. This is what we have in the world today, under the guise of Christianity, that deny the Bible, deny the deity of Jesus Christ, deny all of the great tenants of the Christian faith and yet say they are Christian churches. This is the church of the humanists, and when you ask them, "Tell me about your church," what they say is not, "Well we are seeing God's Word prevail. We are seeing people redeemed. We are seeing God touching lives."
No, they say, "I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing." Look at us. We're successful. We've got a big organization and we've got a lot of money. There are huge churches around the world, great denominations, massive religious systems, that fall under this category. They've got all the money and all the trappings and all of the paraphernalia but they are apostate and they will be spewed out of the Lord's mouth.
He says to them in verse 17, "You don't know that you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked: and I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and the shame of thy nakedness does not appear; and anoint thine eyes with salve, that thou mayest see." "That thou mayest see." So He's really saying to them, "I don't think you've got your evaluation right." And He says, "As many as I phileo" – as many as I phileo" – as many as I reach out to in deep concern, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."
Now do you see what our Lord Jesus Christ warns us about? The church can descend into the pit of apostasy. The church at Ephesus went out of existence because it lost its first love, and then a church so easily becomes a compromiser with the world. You know, sometimes it bothers me that people won't come just to study the Word of God or just to pray. You've got to entertain people, you know, and I feel that. "Oh, you know, if we just had a big, huge production going on, everybody would be here." But if we say we're going to study the Word of God, you know, we get the faithful few. And so what the church does so many times is it begins to pick up on that tack, and we start entertaining the saints and aping the world, and that's a compromise.
And then there's the church that tolerated sin. The church that wed the world. The church that was satisfied with its material riches and really had nothing. The dead church. All of these things are Satan's attacks. And beloved, there are preservatives here also. One is to be the Philadelphia church, this is the Philadelphia church, verse 7 of chapter 3, "these things saith he that is holy" - that hath – "he that is true, that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it."
Boy, I love that. He says, "I opened the door for you to reach the world. This is the door that's wide open, and as long as the church is committed to go through that door and take Jesus Christ to the world, no matter what happens, even if the synagogue of Satan is there, even if the time of trouble comes, it isn't going to affect the church."
Listen, beloved. Evangelism is a preservative. It throws us out of ourselves. It helps us step beyond our inhibitions. It crucifies pride, and then there is that little church early in chapter 2, the Smyrna church: "I know thy works and tribulation in poverty, a poor troubled church." They were being blasphemed. He says, "Don't be afraid. The devil will cast some of you in prison that you may be tried. You'll have tribulation ten days, but be faithful and I will give you a crown of life." Beloved, if we will be confrontive in the world and take what comes, and if we'll be aggressive to win people to Christ we can stand with Smyrna and Philadelphia and not fall into the trap of those other five churches. God help us to be warned as to how Satan attacks.
Let's pray. Father we know that judgment must begin at the house of God. Help us, Father, to be warned and aware. Lord, preserve this church for Your glory alone that it might be a continuing testimony to Your grace. We've seen so many churches around us die, so many fade away. Lord, that's not our desire at all. That doesn't bring You glory.
God help us to be faithful, to maintain that first love, never to compromise with the world, never to tolerate sin, never to substitute reality with form and program and function and organization, never to be filled up with those who are lukewarm pretenders. Help us to be real. Do Your work in our midst. As You move and trim those lamps, may ours be one that shines bright for Your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.
This article is also available and sold as a booklet.


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I am on a really tight budget right now, but I desperately wanted a patio table for my backyard. My solution, of course, was to go garage selling! I found this beauty for a whopping $5. Can you say score? I will admit, at first I didn't see the potential. But desperate times call for thinking outside the box, right? Here's what I did...
After getting rid of the hideous, I mean dated, glass tabletop, I made a trip to Lowes and picked up some fencing. I got the board for under $2 each. I then placed the table base on top of the base to get it centered and added the bracing boards from scrap wood in my garage (I added two braces in the center as well, but they aren't shown here). This gave the tabletop stability and nestle it on the table base so it wouldn't shift.
See the tops of the fencing? I chopped them off one the tabletop was assembled. I wasn't lovin' the red hue of the wood, so I sanded it down and gave the tabletop a wash.
I mixed some black and white craft paint until I got a medium grey color. Then I watered it down 50-70% so that it was really watery. This part was all trial and error until I got the consistency I wanted.
You can see here how the wash got rid of any remaining "too new" looking wood, but the finish looked a little bit flat. Sooo...
I got some white craft paint, and using a really dry brush with just a touch of paint on it, I gave the table a quick once over.
Close up again, you can see how the white paint added some depth to the boards. Next I did some hand painting using the same process I used on my sign. I got the graphic from The Graphic Fairy. Love her stuff! I finished it off with a couple coats of polyurethane to give some protection from the elements.
Here's the after.
Here is the close up of the graphics. I was going for a old french crate feel.
Pay no attention to the old peeling deck, its on the list.
Who'd a thunk... a $5 garage sale patio table...


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See you next year!
There were a few new changes in 2015 for the race too! One cool thing was the Beltbuckle prizes, yep, hand cast by Travis Cobb these beauties would be replacing the cup. They were really cool and a nice change for prizes. Also something different was we were using a timing company at Sweet's. Appalachian Timing Group offered to come in and give it a shot and it worked out great. Zeke Smith is a master at timing and his system worked flawlessly, even with a video backup. Thanks Zeke! Also different was I got to be at the dam and start the race. It has been many years since I have been there and started and I loved it! All of those kayaks did start together and we were synced with Zeke at the finish even though we had no communications. All the raft teams started together too - everything on schedule and without a hitch. It was awesome to see the start - just wish I had a camera for it. Maybe next time... Which brings me to the last change. 2015 was my last year as the Race Director for the Animal Upper Gauley Race. It has been an amazing journey - a river trip that lasted 23 years. I've been honored to race with some of you and to meet so many amazing people through this endeavor. Thank you all - for the smiles and support over such a long time. Travis Cobb was on hand for the race and basically everything has been handed to him. I hope he finds it as rewarding as I have. He may want your help as he brings some of his ideas to the event. I think it is in good hands. Thanks again to you all my dear friends - I will be there cheering and laughing as always. Happy Paddling!
1st Overall Woman
Anna Wagner (WK-1 Plastic) 0:58:48
2nd Overall Woman
Christine Warren (WK-1 Plastic) 1:00:01
1st Overall Man
Robert Waldron (K-1 Wildwater) 0:49:55
2nd Overall Man
Justin Shockey (K-1 Wildwater) 0:50:27
Mens K1 Playboat
Sergio Vidal (K-1Playboat) 0:58:40
Womens Raft (R6)
Wet Dreams 1:09:16
Mens Raft (R6)
Team Wing 1:04:48
Aaron Endrich 1:10:58


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While we've loved Michelle Williams' short hair since the day she chopped it all off, we wouldn't mind seeing the actress with her long locks again.
"I think I'm ready," the 32-year-old star told us this weekend while promoting Oz the Great and Powerful. "It's on its way, slowly but surely."
Let's just hope she can make it through the tough transition from short to long hair.
"That's why I've stayed with short hair for so long," Williams explained. "The mid-stage is insufferable. It's really hard on your self-esteem."
In Oz, Williams wore a flowing blond wig to play Glinda the Good Witch.
With a much deserved acting break scheduled for the next few months, Williams has plenty of time to decide what style is best for her. "I'm really happy to not have anything looming—except my hair," Williams joked. "I'm really working on my hair growing out."
Good luck!
Now we want to hear from you. Should Michelle keep her hair short or let it grow out? Chime in below.


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Amazon has a bevy of DSLR and photo deals today coming through its Lightning Deals page. It starts at 3:15AM ET and keeps rolling throughout the day. I count at least 3 Canon DSLR deals that should go within minutes of the announcement time if earlier deals were anything to measure by.
The complete rundown is below. You'll need to watch the countdown here in order to get in on the deals.
- Canon DSLR at 3:15 AM ET
- Canon DSLR at 5:15 AM ET
- Sony HX5V at 7:15 AM ET
- Canon DSLR at 5:15 AM ET
- Canon imageCLASS MF3010 at 8:45 AM ET
- Transcend MicroSDHC 32GB card at 10:45 AM ET
- M-Audio AV30 Studio Monitors at 11:15 AM ET (I use these for video editing. Very nice.)
- Canon Printer at 11:45 AM ET
- Joby Gorillapod Micro 250 at 12:15 PM ET
- Pentax K-5 at 2:15 PM ET
- Benro Tripod and Messenger Bag at 3:15 PM ET
- Leica V-LUX 20 at 5:15 PM ET
- Logitech M570 Wireless Trackball at 5:45 PM ET (I'm all over this one.)
- Lowepro Camera Bags at 8:15 PM ET
- Kingston 32GB Class 4 SDHC card at 8:45 PM ET (For the record, I don't recommend this one. Get a Class 10 card if you're going to record any video at all.)
- Manfrotto Sling Bag at 10:15 PM ET
Keep track of all the latest deals on our Cyber Monday Deals Page.